BREAKFAST WITH CONGRESSMAN LES ASPIN ON 5 FEBRUARY 1980 AT 9:00 ON THE HILL

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 15791860
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: May 4, 2020
• Case Number: F-2013-00944
• Publication Date: February 1, 1980

Approved for Release: 2020/02/27 C01430792
1 February 1980
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
FROM: Legislative Counsel
SUBJECT: Breakfast with Congressman Les Aspin on 5 February 1980
at 9:00 on the Hill
1. I have invited Les Aspin to meet with you three to discuss
his reservations about the procedure surrounding the Canadian Six
Finding. This seemed indicated following an hour's conversation I had
with Mr. Aspin on 30 January. We had received reports that Mr. Aspin
considered the Canadian Six Finding to be outrageous, unlawful and
totally without precedent. I met with him alone in an attempt to hear
him out. I first showed him the language of the Finding and the
Presidential memorandum in order to prove to him that it was at least
a debatable question whether timely notification had been complied
with. Although he did not agree with my interpretation, he recognized
that it was not an open and shut case.
2. The thrust of Mr. Aspin's concerns is the following. He began
with a specific comment on the Agency. He stated that over a period
of time he has come to recognize that Richard Helms' homily that "we
too are honorable men" has some justification. In that spirit, he
stated that the relationstip evolving between his Oversight Committee
and the Agency on the covert action Findings was becoming constructive
and fruitful from the Committee's point of view. He was, therefore,
dismayed and disappointed at the manner in which the Canadian Six
Finding had been handled because in the end it means that the
Executive does not trust the Legislative Branch. In effect, he said
the Executive Branch does not believe that in the Congress there are
also honorable men. I replied quite the contrary. The Administration
did not view this operation as an Executive Branch - Legislative
Branch matter. It was a question of keeping the number of those
witting to the absolute minimum necessary in order to safeguard the
lives at stake. I stated that this was not just a question of U.S.
lives but Canadian as well, and that the President did not wish to take
any chances respecting their involvement. After an intense but
amicable discussion in which Mr. Aspin stated he recognized that the
b)(3)
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trend was in favor of the Agency but because he felt betrayed by this
obvious lack of trust, he would look for an occasion to ambush us.
I stated that I regretted this fact and wished he would meet with
the DCI, DDCI and the DDO to lay on the table the concerns he had
expressed to me. I told him that under the best of circumstances,
the President would probably only have consented to allow us to
brief the Committee Chairmen on this matter. Again I stressed
it was not a matter of trust, but a matter of operational security
where human lives were at stake. I stated that this was a question
where hard cases make bad law in the context of the "timely
notification" provision and wished that it had not been necessary.
With regard to his own behavior, I stated that many of us were
concerned by his actions on some occasions in releasing from his
office intelligence material which, though not classified, cut
pretty close to the bone. .We are concerned by the fact that it
is he, the Chairman of the HPSCI Oversight Subcommittee, who made
these releases. We concluded that a hearing of views on both
sides was desirable. �
3. Comment - We will not talk Mr. Aspin out of his opposition
to the manner in which the Canadian Six Finding was handled nor
out of his opposition to covert action operations generally.
However, we cannot really afford for this issue to become a
festering sore in our relations with him. He can, counter with
a tight band of liberals in the House and Senate and harass us
unmercifully if he puts his mind to it. I have limited goals
for a meeting between him and the DCI but believe it important
to get our case upon the record.
4. I have since learned that the HPSCI met as a Committee
on Hughes-Ryan on 31 January 1980. The meeting was to discuss
restructuring the Amendment in the liciht of the recent spate of
Findings and,more particularly, the Canadian Six Finding. The
issue is not whether to change Hughes-Ryan, but in what way.
According to Tom Latimer, the principal questions are how many
Committees of the Congress should be notified and when.
Mr. Latimer described the meeting as unemotional and exploratory
of the issues involved. AlthoughMr. Aspin wants prior notification
of covert action Operations, Mr. Latimer confides that
Chairman Boland realizes the President will never consent to
this. There is clear majority on the HPSCI, according to Mr. Latimer,
in favor of Hughes-Ryan change.
cc: DDCI
DDO
GC
Frederick P. Hitz
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